Magur fights through injuries

After three major knee injuries and a shoulder surgery, Ann Magur, a senior center fielder for the softball team, has battled through an unusual amount of adversity and has become a cornerstone of the team.

"I had a lot of knee problems in high school," Magur said. "I tore my ACL playing basketball my junior year, and then had another surgery the summer before my senior year to have my meniscus removed."

Before attending UB, Magur was on a full scholarship at the University of Connecticut.

In her freshman year as a Husky, Magur's high school knee injuries were still giving her problems; problems that she feels her coaches at UConn neglected.

"From the second I got there my knee didn't feel right, and I had a tough time telling the coaches that there was something wrong because I was on a full ride and a number one recruit and I didn't want to seem like a baby. So I just tried to tough it out," said Magur. "As time went on it got worse and worse so finally I just went to the coaches and they weren't very sympathetic. I think they didn't know what it was like to have a serious injury. They didn't want me to see a doctor, and by the time I did I had torn my ACL again, the coach's initial reaction was, 'Can you have her ready for the season?'"

After deciding UConn was not the right place for her, Magur returned to her hometown of Endicott, N.Y., where she underwent rehab for her knee and started to figure out if, and where, she could continue her college softball career.

"I rehabbed my knee and assistant-coached my high school team and then sort of started getting back into the swing of things in the summer," said Magur. "I started looking at state schools because I didn't think I would be on scholarship, I thought I was going to have to sit a year. I ended up looking to UB because I wanted to go Division I. I was like, 'Oh, sweet.' Their assistant coach had recruited me at another school, Coach Salzburg. I ended up really liking the team and the campus and I was a business major and they have a really good business school."

Now in her senior year with the Bulls, Magur has racked up a slew of accolades. Over the last three and half seasons, Magur is a three-time UB Scholar Athlete. In her junior year, she was an all-MAC Academic All-American.

Furthermore, Magur holds a top five slot in eight of 11 offensive categories in UB's individual career record book. She is second on the team in doubles with 25, third in career batting average at .294, third in hits with 114, third in RBIs with 49, fourth in runs scored with 46, fourth in at bats with 388, fourth in home runs with eight and fifth in stolen bases with eight.

With those trying days at UConn behind her, one might assume that Magur has become less aggressive in order to avoid another serious injury.

That couldn't be farther from the truth.

Earlier this season, in a game against Western Kentucky, Magur laid out to make a catch that robbed the Hilltoppers of a key hit. She separated her shoulder in the process. Although the injury forced Magur to sit out 10 games - the only games that she has missed in her career at UB - she can't help but smile when looking back at her late-inning heroics.

"It was the bottom of the seventh. We were up 2-1. It was their leadoff batter and she just ripped a shot. I took two steps and just laid out across my body and came down on (my shoulder). I couldn't move it and I had to sit 10 games because of it so that kind of sucked," said Magur. "(But) it was probably one of the best plays I've ever made in my life."

With the 2005 season half over, the famously tough Magur cannot help but get a little choked up at the thought of ending her softball career.

"Softball has been the love of my life for the last 14 or 15 years and when it finally ends here I think that it is going to be shocking. I can't remember the last time I didn't play competitively," said Magur. "It's something that stays with you."

Magur and the rest of the Bulls will play a doubleheader against Akron on Saturday. The game starts at 1 p.m.